![I had some hesitations about Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I’ve never really enjoyed any of the original films, and despised the Tim Burton remake. The concept was always interesting, and the original contained one of the best cinematic twists of all time - but there was always something keeping me from being engaged (and it probably had something to do with the lack of action and bad prosthetics).
Once the trailer for Rise came out, I thought the series might be grasping at straws: desperately trying to market the concept to new audience, and plopping James Franco in the lead. Reviews were positive, so after much deliberation I finally sat down and watched it - and it was good.
There was a humanity present in this film that I feel the others lacked. That’s not to say that we as audiences have to jump on any specific animal-rights cause. The facts are clear that animals are abused and taken advantage of, and that’s not the right thing to do, no matter what views you subscribe to. This film lays out the good vs. evil concept very clearly and shows that we, the humans, were always the cause of our own destruction and the eventual rise of the apes.
I thought Andy Serkis as Cesar was incredible. He’s already got a huge Oscar push behind him because the motion capture was so incredibly accurate and realistic that it gave the chimpanzee the difference between computer generated animals and an actor’s performance. The animation was well done, and the lead up to the eventual “rise” scene was great too.
All in all, the film succeeded on a bunch of different levels. It’s a heart-warming story of a man and his ape, but it’s also a great drama film (who would’ve known!). It’s worth watching, despite Franco still not quite feeling “right” in the role of the geneticist.
Buy it on Amazon.ca:Rise of the Planet of the Apes - DVDRise of the Planet of the Apes [Blu-ray]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxui73klI51qzq35to1_1280.jpg)
I had some hesitations about Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I’ve never really enjoyed any of the original films, and despised the Tim Burton remake. The concept was always interesting, and the original contained one of the best cinematic twists of all time - but there was always something keeping me from being engaged (and it probably had something to do with the lack of action and bad prosthetics).
Once the trailer for Rise came out, I thought the series might be grasping at straws: desperately trying to market the concept to new audience, and plopping James Franco in the lead. Reviews were positive, so after much deliberation I finally sat down and watched it - and it was good.
There was a humanity present in this film that I feel the others lacked. That’s not to say that we as audiences have to jump on any specific animal-rights cause. The facts are clear that animals are abused and taken advantage of, and that’s not the right thing to do, no matter what views you subscribe to. This film lays out the good vs. evil concept very clearly and shows that we, the humans, were always the cause of our own destruction and the eventual rise of the apes.
I thought Andy Serkis as Cesar was incredible. He’s already got a huge Oscar push behind him because the motion capture was so incredibly accurate and realistic that it gave the chimpanzee the difference between computer generated animals and an actor’s performance. The animation was well done, and the lead up to the eventual “rise” scene was great too.
All in all, the film succeeded on a bunch of different levels. It’s a heart-warming story of a man and his ape, but it’s also a great drama film (who would’ve known!). It’s worth watching, despite Franco still not quite feeling “right” in the role of the geneticist.
Buy it on Amazon.ca:
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Rise of the Planet of the Apes [Blu-ray]
